Teignmouth 14 Tavistock 39

When Teignmouth visited Tavistock in early October, the teams were at opposite ends of the table, and the Teigns’ victory was no surprise. But that was the last time that Tavvy lost a league match, and, judging by their performance at Bitton Park, they must be firm favourites for promotion.

The visitors were on the front foot from the first whistle, and found the home defence surprisingly accommodating in the early minutes of the match. A penalty from fly-half Goldsby-West in the 3rd minute was followed swiftly by a try from Luffman.

Teignmouth kept in touch with penalties from Will Luscombe, but Luffman, who had scored 3 tries last week, was in the zone and added a second try after 21 minutes which Goldsby-West converted.

Another Luscombe penalty made the score 9-15 to the visitors at half time, but the home supporters have become used to seeing an improved second half performance of late, and so there was a quiet confidence that things could be turned around.

However, Mr Luffman had other ideas. Following another Goldsby-West penalty, he added another two tries to his impressive tally for the season, and with 20 minutes left Tavvy were out of sight.

Teignmouth never gave up the fight, and skipper Colin Aldworth crossed in the corner with ten minutes left, but such was the visitors superiority that they were able to score a fifth try through scrum half Smith with five minutes remaining.

The talk in the clubhouse after the match was that Teignmouth failed to play to their strengths – there is no doubt that their backs have the talent to rip most defences in this league apart, but they rarely got a hold of the ball.